Mechanical toy



1933- G. MANASSERO MECHANICAL lOY Filed April 7, 1952 INVENTOR. EIUEEPPE Mmassmn.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented fiept. 19, 1933 "stares,

- terms? rarest? other:

I MECHANICAL TOY GiuseppeManassero, New York, Y. Application April 7, 1932. Serial No. 663,708 aoiaims- (01. 2 73- 1 01) My invention consists in a mechanism cornprising means for catapulting an object, such as a ball, indicating or recording means, and a single operating ,ineans, whereby both said first 5 namednieans are simultaneously operated. More particularly, my invention has for its purpose to produce a mechanical toy to represent a basketball game, in which by the quick depression of a single lever a light ball iscatapulated into the air. in the direction of a small basket,fwhile at the same time an indicator, is moved forward one step to indicate the number of times the ball has been thrown. I

The toy'is mainlyconstructed of pieces of wire and stamped out portions of sheet metal easy to be assembled so that it can be cheaply and quick- I); manufactured readily taken apart to be packed in a compass.

For a better understanding" of my invention, I

refer to annexed drawing, in which, by way illustration, I have shown an embodiment'of the invention and. in which Fig. 1 is atop plan view of a miniature basketball'garne, 2 aside-viewer" the same and Fig.8 adetail view of the basket holder.

-1 and 2, there is shown at 1 a baseplate, winchrnay be made of wood, card-board, or

other suitable material.

'At the four corners thereof are'provided short feet 2 each containing small bore for reception of the bent-off portion of a wire extending along the longer side of base-plate 1, said wires bein shown at 3 and l. These wirestogether with a connecting end wire, shown at 5, constitute a fence around three sides of the the forward base plateleaving one side open at At t is shown a narrow bush- Or of shown the basket made of a single piece suitably bent and twisted to form a round opening. 12and supporting arms 13 havingbent off ends 14 adapted to be passed through'apertures 15 in the flat member 8 so to be clamped place thereon, as shown in Fig. 2.

The principal mechanism now to be described.

is situated on forward portion of base-plate 1 and is compose.

of the following parts:

' is adapted to engage 1. The catapultwhich isrnade or a piece of thin sheet metal so shaped as to form a narrow arm 16 carrying at its forward end a slightly concave round dislr. 1'7 and being expanded its rear end to form two lugs 18 and 19 which, by means of two rivetdike pins 20 and 21 are loosely attached tobase-plate '1 which, as is clearly shown in Fig. i, is provided with a longitudinal slot 22 through which'the narrow arm 16 projects below the bottom side of base-plate 1. (See Fig. 2.)

2. The indicating means, which comprises a. rotatable annular member'23, stamped out of sheet-metal and provided along its periphery with a pl'urality ofsuccessive tongues that have been turned back so as to constitute relatively spaced small abutments 24:; Toward the center of 'member 23 andbeyond the center, extends a pointer 25 provided with a hole for member 23' to .be ro- 'tatably mounted on a stem 26 projecting through base-plate 1 from below and fastened thereto. At 27 is shown a peculiarly-shaped piece of wire formed with a triangular portion '28 and ending in a straight finger 29, the forward end of which between adjacent abutments Za'of the annular mernber 23. At its other end,

the wire 27 is turned baclrfto form an arm 30 terminating in "an eye 31" engaging the crankshaped portion32 of a wire 32 extending partly across base-plate 1 parallel with its forward edge and being held in place by two lugs 33 and 34 formed'withholes to receive the wire 32. At 32 wire 32 is bent off at right angles and passes through an aperture 35 in base-plate 1 below the same, at first extending downwards and then at right angles parallel to its upper portion, where- 9. upon the wire is bent again, this time upwards" so as to project through an aperture 36 in baseplate 1, where it is formed with an eye 3'? engaging the wire 27. 1

3. The actuating member consisting of a lever arm 38 formed with a cradle 39 being fulcrumed to the top of base-plate 1 at 40 and a0 and being provided with a broad finger-piece 41, adapted to be struck by a finger as shown in Fig. 2. At its free rear end, the lever-arm 38 is provided or. formed with a flat head 42 adapted to engage the narrowarm 16 of the catapult.

The lever-arm 38 is of such a length that in the normal position of the parts it is lowered, 6

When the-fingenpiece 41 is struck a op'iiclr blowxwith'afinger, the flat head 42 at the rear end of lever-arm 33 strikes the narrow arm 15 with considerable force so that a ball, indicated at 43 in Fig. 2 by the broken lines, resting on the round disk 17 is thrown high up into the air. If the fingenpiece il has been struck with just the right force, the ball 43 will in being thrown into the air, describe the trajectory 44 shown in Fig. 2 and will drop into the basket 11. While the arm 16 is struck by the flat head 42 of the leverarm 38, the latter simultaneously strikes the wire 32 which thereby is rocked within its lugs 33 and 34 and through its arm extending upwardly through the aperture 36 imparts to the peculiarly bent wire 27 a compound movement in sucha way that its finger 29 first descends between two adjacent abutments 24 of the annular member 23 and immediately thereupon makes a lateral motion so as to thereby move or rotate the annular member 23 about stem 26 one step in an anti-clockwise direction. In this manner, the pointer 25 of the annular member 23 will indicate the number of times, the finger-piece 41 has been I struck and the ball 43 thrown.

As shown by Fig. 3, there may be provided, if desired, a recording mechanism on the basket holder 8. As shown in said figure and also in Figs. 1 and 2, a small catch is provided at 45, which, when a ball dropsinto the basket is struck thereby and by suitable means not shown actuates a recording mechanism 46 provided with a pointer 47.

If it is desired that the ball when thrown into the basket should be caught, a small net indicated at 48 in Fig. 2 may be provided.

Obviously, my invention is not limited to the embodiment shown on the drawing as the same may be varied in many different ways both regarding the construction and general arrangement without a departure from the essence of my invention.

I claim: I

1. In an amusement device of the projectile game piece type, a target to receive a projected game piece comprising a support disposed in a vertical'plane and having a pair of. spaced openings formed therethrough, and a single length of material bent to form a horizontally-disposed game piece receiving ring and terminal arms for engagement in the openings of said support to hold the target in operative position, the. said terminal arms extending from opposite sides of the ring first downwardly and inwardly relative to the support, then upwardly, then rearwardly and then downwardly to provide portions to rest against the front of the support and hook portions to engage the openings and the rear of the support to hold the target firmly in an operative position.

2. In an amusement device of the projectible game piece type, a base having a slot, an arm having a lug at one end resting upon the top of the base and at its other end having a game piece holder normally resting upon the top of the base, the lug being apertured, a fastener ex- 3. In an amusement device of the projectible game piece type, a base having a slot, an arm having a pair of apertured lugs at one end thereof resting upon the top of the base and at its other end having a game piece holder, fasteners extending through the lug apertures into the base and loosely connecting the arm to the base for limited vertical swinging and lateral movements, an intermediate portion of said arm extending through the slot in the base and normally below the bottom face of the base, and an actuating lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the base and having one end portion thereof underlying the arm intermediate the ends thereof, whereby depression or the other end of said lever is. effective to impart upward swinging movement to the 51 arm to project a game piece supported thereon.

GIUSEPPE MANASSERO. 

